Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee directed a series of vitriolic attacks at each other at different public meetings in the state today. This was over a meeting on the review of losses caused by the cyclone Fani in West Bengal that had damaged over 5,000 homes and affected several thousands of people. The Prime Minister had called a meeting in West Midnapore\u2019s Kalaikunda this morning.<\/p>\n
PM Modi said though he had called a meeting with officers of the state in view of the recent damage caused by Fani, Banerjee had asked her officers to skip it. He said that \u201cDidi\u2019s pride\u201d was causing harm to the people in the state as they did not get benefits of the Centre\u2019s grants, even when it came such a critical situation. The Prime Minister said this at a meeting in East Midnapore\u2019s Tamluk. He added that he had called Mamata Banerjee twice in connection with the cyclone.<\/p>\n
Mamata Banerjee, speaking at a public meeting in West Midnapore said that she would not allow Modi to conduct a meeting for the sake of \u201cclicking pictures\u201d and posting them on social media. \u201cThe Prime Minister\u2019s tenure is over. Just prior to the elections, I refuse to share the dais with him. Moreover, he came to Bengal today for election meetings, not for this meeting,\u201d she said. \u201cHad he been visiting only for the meeting relating to the cyclone, I would have given it some thought,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Banerjee said that the elections in Odisha was over and thus the CM there did not have difficulty in attending the PM’s meeting, but in Bengal, the election was on and she could not change her schedule according to the plans of the PM’s public rallies.<\/p>\n
At the next public meeting added that the state government would spend the money required to repair the damage caused to people and their homes due to the onslaught of Fani. \u201cI have met him several times in the past as CM seeking funds for damage caused by floods. But not a paisa was given to us,\u201d she said. \u201cNow that the elections are around, he has thought of holding a meeting, that too when he is here only for the election meetings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Banerjee said that she was in Kharagpur on the day the cyclone was to make landfall in Bengal. \u201cWe had cancelled all election meetings that day, but he continued his election rallies. I was there exactly where the cyclone was to hit so that I could rush to people if they needed me,\u201d she said.\u00a0“Your tenure has expired,” she added, “We will participate in meetings with the new Prime Minister”, Banerjee said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The PM was here for election campaigns, Mamata Banerjee said while explaining her reservations about the government meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":5423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"adace-sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-5422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n